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Cornerback Tarell Brown watched James Jones' eyes and listened to the Lambeau Field crowd to help defend this deep pass from Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. (AP)

Asked today about defending a deep pass to Packers wide receiver James Jones in Sunday’s win at Green Bay, 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown offered a reminder that it takes more than athleticism to cover NFL wideouts.

Brown, of course, had to keep up with Jones when Aaron Rodgers launched a pass down the left sideline on 2nd-and-8 from midfield. But he ultimately broke up the play by looking into Jones’ eyes (a receiver’s eyes get bigger when the ball is coming, he said) and picking up on the cue of the home crowd, which got loud in anticipation of a big pay.

Brown and the rest of the 49ers secondary will likely need all available senses on Sunday night when the Lions arrive with All-Pro wideout Calvin Johnson, who led the NFL in receiving yards (1,681), ranked second in touchdowns (16) and was fourth in receptions (96) last year.

Johnson didn’t practice today due to a foot injury, but he played the entire season-opening 27-23 win against St. Louis and “seems to be fine, judging from the portion of practice open to the media,” reported detroitlions.com.

Johnson was just fine against the Rams – catching six of seven passes thrown his way for 111 yards. He also made the quarterback Matthew Stafford’s game-winning, five-yard touchdown pass to running back Kevin Smith possible by attracting about 40 percent of St. Louis’ defense his way.

“If you look at the play, there were four people on him,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said of the game-winner with 10 seconds left. “The play was designed for Calvin. We make no mistake about that. We were trying to hit Calvin on the back line, but when they slough four guys off on him – they had him doubled and also had two linebackers underneath – when that happened that freed our running back up to be wide open in the flat. That’s the dynamic that Calvin brings. It’s very rare that he’s not doubled, some way, somehow.”

Last year, the 49ers mixed up their coverages against Johnson, who had seven catches for 113 yards in a 25-19 loss. San Francisco did keep him out of the end zone after Johnson opened the season by setting an NFL record with nine touchdowns in the first five games.

Brown said he’s “geeked up” for the challenge of facing Stafford and Johnson, who at 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds, has a 45-inch vertical jump, 82-inch wingspan and has been clocked at 4.35 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

“They get him the ball,” Brown said. “He’s the featured guy. Everybody knows that. The thing for us is to play our style of football. Go out there and try to be physical. Go out and there and get our hands on him. Try to slow that guy down. He’s going to make catches, but you want to limit his yards after the catch. And go out there and compete with him for every jump ball.”

** Stafford on Alex Smith’s stretch of 185 straight passes without an interception: “It’s what their system is built around, protecting the football, playing good defense, taking what the defenses gives you and playing great special teams. That’s what they do. They have a very good running game, Alex is playing very well and obviously they upgraded their receiver position in the offseason. They are attacking all parts of the field now and he’s playing great. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Alex and that system, he’s playing well.”

** Running back Brandon Jacobs (knee) and wide receiver Ted Ginn (ankle) remain sidelined after missing Sunday’s season opener. Both Jacobs and Ginn worked on a side field with trainers during the portion of practice open to the media.